OneShot Collection :Heart and Mind:
by LexLogikk
Summary: Chapter Thirteen: TenIno. "If you open your heart, love opens your mind." Ino loves her best friend, Tenten. And she says so. How will Ten deal with it? Can she ever love Ino back? Only 37 one-shots left!
1. GaaIno: The Distance

**This is the first story in a collection I am going to be making with many, many, MANY different couples. Each one will be based off a different quote, none of which I know who said (thanks to my brother, who wrote down the quotes but not the authors.) So just (unless you know who it is who said it) consider them all anon. If you DO happen to know who said it, please, PM me, tell me which chapter, and let me know who said it. I'd love you all forever and ever and ever.**

**Disclaimer: I thought this was a _fan_fiction.**

**Detication: To Ino-Gaara, who loves this couple so much she hurts. And for helping me match couple to quote. You kick ass, girl!! (P.S. This was a request, so... yeah...)**

**Gaara X Ino **Story One: Distance Doesn't Matter

_Where there is love, distance doesn't matter._

Ino sat up from her bed with a sigh. After three hours, she still hadn't been able to fall asleep. Her eyes wandered around the moonlight-filled room. It was empty. Sure, there was her bed, her desk, her TV, her closet, and other things like that, but there was no one there but her.

_He didn't come…_ she thought sadly. _I should have known that he wouldn't. Why would he?_

As Ino stared out into the night, she saw a flicker or red dash before her window. She hurried to the window to open it and let the redhead into her room with a smile. The redhead turned to her with a grin plastered onto his face before stooping down and kissing her neck. "Gaara…" she whispered softly.

Gaara wound his arms around her waist, lifting his head to look into Ino's blue oceans with his sea foam green eyes before planting a kiss on her awaiting lips. "Why do you have to go back to Suna?" she said with a quiet tone of dread in her voice.

"I cannot stay for much longer, you know that. I'm not supposed to be here right now, I'm supposed to be on my way already. I'm expected to arrive in Suna tomorrow morning."

Ino's bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "But Gaara…"

The redhead put a finger to Ino's rosy lips. "Enough, Ino. It's my job as kazekage."

The blonde sighed, resting her head on her lover's shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Holding her head, Gaara turned the blonde to look at him. "I'll be back, you know that." He noticed that her blue oceans were becoming glossy wither the water that was now coating them. With a sigh, he pulled her face up into a passionate kiss.

"I'll miss you, Gaara-kun." She says sadly.

"Ino, where there is love, distance doesn't matter." And with a quick kiss to her forehead, the red head of hair disappeared into the night, leaving with his angel his unspoken vow to return.


	2. SasuSaku: Try

**Alright, one-shot number two: SasuSaku is up! Many thanks to Fujiwara Kaito for being my first reviewer!! And just a few minutes after it was posted!! Thanks so much!**

**Disclaimer: Sasuke freaking left. I cried. I didn't know he was going to leave. Which means I didn't make Naruto. Which means I don't OWN Naruto, either. Ha. T.T**Story Two: I Don't Want To Try

Sasuke X Sakura

_It's not that I can't live without you, it's just I don't even want to try._

Sakura walked down the lonely sidewalk quietly as the moonlight shone down. She didn't know why, once again, she had returned to this spot. It brought back so many hurtful memories. And yet, she couldn't keep herself away from here. The last place she saw him. The last place she saw he Sasuke.

The rosette sighed, looking up at the moon hovering in the midnight sky. She drew in a breath. _He's coming home, Sakura. He's coming home._ She told herself for the millionth time that night. How long would it be before she could convince herself of that? Naruto told her Sasuke agreed to come back. Why couldn't she believe it?

Because she couldn't see it. She couldn't see him walking down the streets of Konoha towards her. It just didn't seem possible now, just a figment of her imagination. So why could she feel the warm hands grip her shoulders, smell the sweet scent of his breath on her lips, and see him in front of her, but not believe it? How could she feel his strong arms around her and not know it was really him?

_When is he coming home?_ Sakura cried in her mind. _Why do I keep seeing him here when he's not? _Her delicate green eyes were becoming glossy with water, and the water was seeping out and down her face.

The man whose arms were around her felt the tears soak through his shirt. Lifting her face with a strong hand, he peered into the green eyes with his midnight ones. "Sakura," he said sadly. "Sakura, why are you crying?"

The pink haired girl continued to weep. "Because," she sobs. "Because you're not here. I see you, but you're not here. You… you can't be…"

The edges of the hole in Sasuke's chest begin to burn. "Sakura, I'm here! I'm home! Can't you see that? I'm home!" he says, desperate to get her to recognize him. To acknowledge that he was there. The rosette closed her eyes and continued to cry.

_I should've know better than to leave… I should've known I would've hurt Sakura… And now… look at her! She doesn't believe her own eyes, her senses… she doesn't believe me._ He thinks sadly. _What've I done?_

Sakura's eyes flitter open. Her sobs quiet. The tears stop flowing. _Sasuke? _My_ Sasuke? Is he really here? _"Sa-Sasuke-kun? Are… are you really here?" She asks half-heartedly. The raven-haired boy nods. Sakura wraps her arms around him and buries her face in his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. "Oh, Sasuke-kun."

(()) (()) (())

Sakura's eyes open and flutter to the figure next to her. _That's right. _She thinks. _Sasuke-kun is mine now. He's… he's home. He's been home for a week._ Shifting herself into an upright position, Sakura holds a hand to Sasuke's sleeping face with a small smile. At her touch, the corners of his mouth lifted up.

Bending down to put her lips to his ear, she whispers, "It's not that I couldn't live without you, it's just that I didn't even want to try…" before swiftly kissing his cheek and returning her head to her pillow, slowly drifting off into a blissful sleep…


	3. SakuIno: The Simplest Truth

**Okays, here is bi couple number one. This one was acctually supposed to be chapter eleven (just how it went on the list) but I felt that RamenIshLove needed something that wouldn't frustrate her (as in a same-sex pairing. don't ask me why regular ones freak her out, cause I don't know.) so yeah. No likie, no readie. Constructive critism fine, but please, no flames. I'm on low storage of self esteem as of late. But reveiws would so boost it! So R&R, people!!**

**P.S. I would so love you if you gave me an idea for the next story. Pairing: NejiSaku (lots of Sakura lately, huh? Weird. I swaer I didn't plan it to be like that!) Saying: Sould meets soul on lovers' lips. Heeeelllllllllllppppppppp!! From now on, I'll be putting up the next couple and quote in the author's note. If I don't, then... oh well. Too lazy.**

**Thanks! Ja ne!**

**TheLextacyBlossom**

**Disclaimer: If me (or my friends) owned Naruto, Ino would've given up on the arrogant (but sexy) bastard going by the name of Sasuke, Sakura would've gotten him, and the two would still be friends. But they're still all rivaly grr to each other, so I obviously don't own Naruto.**

**Dedication: Randi. RamenIshLove. What ever you want me to call you. This is fer you. :D Enjoys.**

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Sakura X Ino

Story Three: The Simplest Truth

_The most difficult thing to explain in this world is the simplest truth called love_

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Ino danced to the music under the flashing lights. Her eyes wafted up to look at her partner, Kiba, who couldn't seem to keep his hands off of her. He always tried putting a hand on her hip, on her waist, on her shoulder. The entire time they had been dancing, Ino had been swaying her body away from his strong hands, toying with him. Soon his eyebrows were furrowed with irritation and the blonde kunoichi couldn't help but smile and laugh. The irked dog boy then left the dance floor and grabbed a beer.

With a glittering smile on her face, Ino walked over to a group of people on the floor. Many of them were new faces, but there were a few there. Sakura, Naruto, Lee, Tenten, Hinata, Kankurou, and Chouji were all mixed into a circle. Ino peered over heads of those who were watching the group. _Spin the bottle? What ever happened to us being teenagers? Teens don't play… ooh! Wait! Naruto is playing! I might just have to play then… _

The blonde pushed through the crowd and sat down next to the shy Hyuuga. Hinata looked shocked to see her there. "Ino? Are you seriously going to play with us?" The blonde nodded. Hinata smiled and grabbed the bottle in the middle of the circle, handing it to Ino. "Newcomers first."

The blonde blushed but nonetheless spun the empty beer bottle around. Around and around and around it went, stopping on the least expecting person in the group.

The shocked rosette looked from the bottle, to Ino, and back to the bottle. _It's… it's pointed at _me_!!_ The two girls blushed. Naruto fell over laughing and Tenten hit him on the head for Sakura. Hinata gasped lightly.

Kankurou, through his chuckles, said, "Well, ladies, what're you waiting for?" The two shot glares of death at him. "Why are you glaring at me? Ino's the one who spun the bottle…" The glares continued. "Just kiss already!!"

The two looked at each other nervously. "But… we're best friends…" they said, trying to get out of it. All of the others shook their head. Both of them leaned forward. Soft pink lips met soft pink lips.

That's what you call a kiss, right? When lips meet and sparks fly, and you can't seem to live without getting more?

More, more, MORE!

Lips parted and tongues dashed into warm caverns. Everyone gasped, but the two didn't notice.

MORE!!

Hinata tapped Ino and Naruto tapped Sakura. The two jumped and pulled away with glowing red faces.

"I… um… ano…"

"Ano… I… um…"

Shikamaru laughed from somewhere in the audience. "The most difficult thing to explain is the simplest truth called love." He said with a smirk.

Ino kicked him. But when her eyes slowly turned to the rosette, the green orbs were on her as well. The blush deepened again, but they couldn't help but continue to look.

_Do I love her now? After one kiss?_ The two thought. They couldn't answer. It would be too difficult to explain anyway.

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**P.S.S. The part about the kissing was from another fic... I don't remember the name but it wuz really good. I don't own the whole 'More, more, MORE' part. I wish I did, but I don't.**


	4. NejiSaku: The Meeting

**Yayz! Oneshot no. four!! :D I kinda thought this one was cheesy, but... oh well. Its _okayish_ I suppose. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Naru-verse, I would be somehow 'magically' transported into said Naru-verse and Neji would totally fall for me and we'd have a happily ever after. But my boyfriend is named Troy, so I guess I don't own the Naru-verse.**

**Dedication: To my beloved readers! I love you all!**

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Neji X Sakura

Story Four: Soul Meets Soul

_Soul meets soul on lovers' lips._

"Sakura-chan!!" Ino called after me. "Come back here!! You still have to try on five different outfits!!" I continued to run like a bat out of hell. _Move, move, MOVE!!_ I screamed. I couldn't seem to move fast enough. Far enough. Away from _her_.

"Come on, damn it!" I whisper furiously, rounding a corner. I started using chakra to move myself further. Bolting down the street, I weaved myself through the crowd, earning myself a billion, "Hey! Look where you're going!" I pushed past them anyway.

The blonde was _following_ me! She was freaking _following _me! I ducked into an alleyway and ran up the wall, up to the top of the building. I continued to run as I heard, "Sakura!!"

I continued to bolt. Eventually I jumped back onto the ground and continued my running. Turning one last corner, I feel myself plow into none other than –

"Neji-kun!!" Lee called. "Where you going? We still have training to do!"

_Gah, that Lee and his damn training! For once, I've had enough of it!_ I thought, dashing down the street and away from him. For several minutes, I continued to run. And run. And run.

I ran all over town. Weaving in and out of crows, squeezing in between people, I run. My breath was starting to catch up with me. I ran around a corner and found myself running straight into –

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_Neji!!_ My mind screams. I plowed right into Neji Hyuuga. And… and I felt my lips touch his… I felt the sparks fly. Out of instinct, I gripped his shoulders, pulling him closer. Fireworks were everywhere. I couldn't concentrate. The Hyuuga's image was piercing every thought in my mind that was not him.

And he… he gripped _me_! _The_ Neji Hyuuga gripped _my_ waist and pulled _me_ closer. _His_ tongue darted into _my_ mouth. _His_ hands wove themselves into _my_ hair.

But _I_ was the one who felt the butterflies. I was the one who felt airborne.

Did he? Did his soul lift at the feel of my lips on his?

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_Sakura…Why am I kissing Sakura?_ I asked. But somehow, I couldn't help but grip her waist, pull her closer, and wind my free hand into her hair. I had no control over my tongue as it darted into her mouth. For the first time in a long time, I felt uplifted.

_My soul feels… lighter. As if it's no longer lonely. As if it's… happy. _I thought.

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_You know what they say. _They thought as the sparks continued to fly. _Soul meets soul on lovers' lips._


	5. LeeSaku: The Risk

**Okay, this one is for all of the LeeSaku fans out there. This story is set back when they're still in the academy. I was chatting with a friend when I thought, "What would've happened if Lee helped Sakura, and not Ino?" so I based this story off of that. I thought it was cheesy... but I still thought it was cute. I hope you all enjoy it. **

**Next Time: ShikaXHina: i have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt; only more love.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Neji would've hooked up with Ino in the forest of death.**

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**Lee X Sakura** Story Five: The Risk It Takes To Blossom

_The risk it takes to remain tight inside the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to blossom._

As I sat there on the sidewalk, tears flowing down my face, I wondered why my life was so horrible. I was a good girl. I got straight-A's in ninja school. I rarely ever got into trouble. But everyone made fun of me. All because of my _stupid_ forehead!

I continued to sob, with my rosy hair falling in front of my eyes. I wanted so much to sweep the hair out of my face, but I didn't want everyone to see my huge forehead. So I dealt with it, burying my face in my knees as I continued to cry.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Ano..?" I say quietly, looking up to see who touched me. Behind me was a boy in green clothes and long black hair in a braid. _It's that Lee kid. What does he want? No doubt he wants to make fun of me like everyone else. _

"Are you okay?" he asks me quietly. I shake my head and press it against my knees again, going back to my crying.

"Why are you crying? Is something wrong?" I jump when he lays his hand on my shoulder. "Pretty girl, what's your name?"

"S-S-Sakura." I say between my hiccups.

"I'm Lee. Sakura… what's wrong?" he asks again.

"Everyone's m-making fun o-of my f-forehead." I cry.

He turns my face so he can look at me in the eyes. "I don't see why? It's… it's a very cute forehead." He says with a blush. "But… why do you hide it?" he sweeps the hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ears. "You only make a bigger deal out of it."

I blush as his hands run across my skin. "But, my forehead! People are going to make fun of me!" I say anxiously. "It's going to make it worse!"

He shakes his head. "No, it won't. It looks better now." He blushes.

I close my eyes and tilt my head down, not in the mood for arguing. The next thing I knew, I felt something soft touch my forehead. Opening my eyes, I see that Lee had his face pressed up against mine. My face glows.

"Sakura, aren't you named after a cherry blossom?"

I nod.

"You know that the risk it takes to remain tight inside the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to blossom, right?"

I look at my feet, trying to interpret his words. Somehow, I just couldn't figure out what he meant. After speaking those words, Lee turned around and ran back to all his 'friends'.

Now, three years later, I'm finally understanding what he meant. And now, I, Sakura, have blossomed.


	6. ShikaHina Onesided : The Paradox

**Otay, I know I said I'd only upload on Sundays or Mondays, but I needed to get this up. Next time I'll try and get it up earlier. Sorry for the extremely LOOOOOONG wait.**

**Warnings: AU and skips around alot. Sorry, but there was a lot to write.**

**Disclaimer: I don't have billions and billions of fangirls telling me to make Sasuke and Naruto go gay for each other. So _how_ could I _possibly_ own Naruto?**

**Shikamaru X Hinata **Story Six: The Paradox

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, only more love.

Misty purple eyes stare blankly at the textbook on the glass kitchen table. A pale hand sweeps the wisp of indigo hair hanging in front of a pale, emotionless face. The quiet girl sighs, her head tilting downward with dismay.

"Stupid test…" her small voice complains, her hands shooting up to her head to rub her temples, trying desperately to rid herself of the migraine the language arts textbook was giving her. "Stupid teacher. Stupid school. Stupid textbook." Her pale eyes wander to the ceiling, gazing at the bumps that stood out at odd angles.

"Screw it." She decides after a while, slamming her textbook shut with frustration. Shoving the craggy book into her bag, she walks agitatedly to her room and drops the backpack onto the floor. She dives onto her bed, burying her face in her soft periwinkle micro-bead pillow. "Stupid test." She mutters again.

(()) (()) (())

"Hinata!!" A voice calls, shaking the blue haired girl from her dreams. She rubs her eyes sleepily, wiping away the dried tears of frustration from them. Pushing herself upright, she looks around her room, still a little drowsy, before standing up shakily. Looking in the mirror on her vanity set, Hinata sees the mass of knots that had been formed in her hair from the tossing and turning. Her pale hand reaches up to her forehead, massaging her temples again.

"What?" she calls back, pulling a brush into her hand and running it through her hair.

"Dinner!"

Hinata rolls her eyes. "Right…" she sets the brush down. "Be right there!" She glances hatefully at her backpack and walks swiftly out the door, closing it behind her silently.

(()) (()) (())

"Hinata?" a distant voice rings.

"Oiy, Hinata!" another voice says.

"Hinata, are you alright?"

"Hinata!"

"Hinata!"

"Hinata!"

The blue haired girl blinks, her head shooting up. "Ano?" she cries out.

"Oh, geez, Hinata! You almost gave me a heart attack." Says a pink haired girl beside her. "The teacher was taking attendance."

The pale girl blushes. "I guess it's a little late to say here…?" It wasn't supposed to come out as a question, but the other girl nods. Hinata sighs, eyes wandering around the classroom.

Class passes by in an instant for Hinata. One moment Sakura was complaining about her spacing off a lot, and the next… the room was practically empty, save for the teacher and her. Surprisingly to Hinata, the teacher was sitting next to her. "Hinata, I'm worried about you." She says, noticing that the blue haired girl was coming back down to earth. "Your grades are falling tremendously. I think you need a tutor.

Hinata looks at her with shock in her dazzling lavender eyes. "A… tutor?"

The teacher nods. "I think it would be best for you. I've already got someone who is willing to tutor you, and he's one of the best. Practically the top of the class."

Hinata continues to blink confusedly. A _tutor_? She was in for it. Her father would be so disappointed if he found out. "But the test… it's in just three days!"

The teacher laughs. "That's okay, Hinata. You'll understand it in record timing. Your tutor really is one of the best." She smiles, tucking a lock of reddish-brown hair behind her ear.

The blue haired girl sighs. "Alright… who is it?" she asks quietly, apprehensively.

"Shikamaru."

(()) (()) (())

"Geez… you're so troublesome." The lazy boy scoffs, lips pulled into a distinct frown.

"No, I'm not. This _stupid_ test is!!" Hinata retorts, slamming her head against the table in frustration.

"It's simple, Hinata. A paradox is a proposition that is contrary to logic or common sense."

"Give me an example." She demands, lifting her head and crossing her arms, staring at him expectantly.

The boy sighs. "Well… how about this: "I always lie." If it is the truth, then it must be false because if it was the truth the person wouldn't always lie."

Hinata's eyebrows furrow, her hands pressing to the sides of her head as if to keep it from exploding. "That makes no sense!!" she half-shrieks, tears of frustration collecting in her eyes.

Shikamaru sighs. "Troublesome woman…" he murmurs.

(()) (()) (())

The next day passes quickly, Hinata slowly beginning to understand what she was supposed to know, slowly beginning to fall for the lazy boy. In the time of three days, she was _sure_ that she loved him. Was she right? She thought she was, but did her heart think so?

Nevertheless, when the test was distributed, no fear, no anxiety was in her lively lavender eyes as she picked up her pencil. The answers seemed to flow from her hand thoughtlessly. Question after question, her hand jotted down the answers the flawlessly. She was sure she was right.

That's when she came to a peculiar and unexpected question. 'What is a paradox? Explain your reasoning and provide an example.' Hinata stopped and thought about that one. Quickly writing down the definition, her mind ran through all her past lessons with Shikamaru. _I could always use his example… but that feels too much like cheating. So what would be a good paradox?_ Her mind raced, desperately searching for a new paradox. Suddenly, the light above her head switched on.

She quickly wrote down, 'I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, only more love.'


	7. SasuNaru Anti NaruSaku: Stolen

**Heeyyyyy!! Anyone miss me?**

**Hehe. Thankyeww. I feel loved now. xD**

**Glad to say that this chapter is finally up. It wasn't as _nearly_ as hard to write as I had thought it was going to be. I would've gotten it up _yesterday_ if Doc Manager hadn't been down for half of my day (5:00PM to 1:00AM) xD**

**Glad to say that this story is deticated to Randi, because SasuNaru is our favorite Yaoi Pairing in the World! This is fer you. Even though you can't read this because of your lack of Internet. Here you go. Lmao.(:**

**Disclaimer: If you do not already know I do not own Naruto, or have temporarily lost your mind and/or memory, I'll say it again; I do not own Naruto. :D**

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Sasuke X Naruto (Anti NaruSaku)

Story Seven: Stolen

_A legal kiss is never as good as a stolen one._

I turned from the rosette hanging on my arm. She was getting like _that_ again. You know, when she starts being clingy, touchy-feely, needy, and whiny. Everything a guy hates about a girl. _To think I used to trail after her with my tongue hanging out of my mouth… just to get her and find out she was like __**this**__. That blows._

"Oooh!! Naru-kun, can I have this…?!" The pink haired girl rushes from his side and shoves her face into the glass, staring at a small green and pink dress in the shop's window that looked like it would only go three inches down Sakura's thigh. _I mean, what is it about __**clothes**__ that get girls so fucking excited? That dress isn't even nice-looking. It's for made for a slut on Colfax. Not to mention its __**green**__ and __**pink**__. Why not just stamp "whore" on your forehead, Sakura? There's certainly enough room for it on that billboard…_

She hurried into the store, asking the nearest clerk available to try it on. I chuckled to myself when he said that was display only, and they had no more of it in stock at the time. She demanded to try it on yet again.

The clerk scowled at her. "When I said display only, ma'am, I meant display _only_. We're not aloud to take the clothes off of the manikins during operating hours. You're simply going to have to come back another day."

I walked into the store and pulled her away, apologizing to the clerk as we left. "Sakura, what's gotten into you?"

She looked up at me innocently. "…What do you mean, Naru-kun…?"

"You can't _treat_ people like that!"

She looked taken aback. "Treat people like _what_? All I did was ask the man to let me try it on. He could've just done it."

I frowned disapprovingly at her. "Sakura…" I groaned. "Never mind. Let's just go." I started walking towards the parking lot.

"But I'm not done shopping yet!" she called after me pathetically.

"I am. You can come with me and get a ride, or you can stay here and walk home. Take your pick."

"But _Naru-kun_!!"

I turned, my frown more hateful. "Sakura, you can come or you can walk. I'm going home," I repeated to her.

"Naruto…! Get back here!" I turned and walked away, clenching my teeth together. "Naruto! Wait…! Just one more store?"

I'm sure she shouted more after me, but by then, I was too far away to hear her. I got in my car and drove away, knowing she was still in the mall clutching all her damn bags.

I growled, pushing my car faster on the freeway then I normally did. I didn't know where I was going. Sort of just driving, letting the purrs of the engine clear my head. I pulled off the highway onto a thoroughfare and slowed to forty mph. I took corners sharply, practically turning on a dime. _I love this car. Shame to think I can't say the same for my own girlfriend._ I was shocked to realize, after laughing at the stupidity of my thoughts, that I had ended up driving to Sasuke's house.

Shrugging, I climbed out of my car and walked up the steps to his front door and knocked once loudly. "Hey, Sasuke! Open up!" I knew he was there because his drool-worthy Lamborghini was parked in his garage (I took the liberty of looking at it for a few minutes in awe before actually knocking on his door.)

The door swung back to reveal the pale raven-haired boy I knew so well. "What do you want, dobe?"

"Mind if I hang with you? Sakura's been driving me crazy."

Sasuke laughed (which was more of a quiet snort than an actual laugh, but, hey.) "I never thought I'd see the day that Sakura was driving you crazy in any way but in the penis." He walked back to the couch he'd been sitting on before, expecting me to close the door behind me as I followed him.

I laughed, too. "Me, either."

(^_^) SasuNaru! (^_^)

I don't know how, but I somehow ended up spending a lot more time with Sasuke. Sometimes I was hiding from the clingy girlfriend, sometimes I was just hanging, and other times, I just ended up there with him, like that day.

Weird thing was, he ended up coming to me, a lot, too. There weren't a lot of places he could go anymore, because his ex-girlfriend Ino would kill him if she saw him anywhere with less then two hundred people present, and there weren't a lot of people he wanted to be around, anyway. We became something like best friends. Funny thing, isn't that? How, when I was thirteen, I hated the guy's guts for simply being more successful that I had been, and now we were kissing and everything.

Did I say kissing…? I, mean, uhhhmmm…

Don't tell Sakura. She would bust a vein if she knew her boyfriend was _gay_.

Besides; a legal kiss is never as good as a stolen one.


	8. NaruKiba: The Box

**Here's One-Shot Number Eight, which I also would've had up yesterday if Doc Manager and been online.**

**This one is deticated to Randi, again. Not only did she tell me what couple to write, but she gave me the freaking coolest plotline possible for the crap-ass quote I'd assigned them. xD**

**Enjoy3**

**Disclaimer: Saying, "Oh yeah, I own Naruto!" would get me thrown in Juvy. I'm a good little girl who never does anything wrong. Almost.(:**

**[[I don't own Naruto.]]**

Story Eight: The Box

Naruto X Kiba

_Love Is just an abbreviation of everything we ever wanted to say about that special person that means something to us, all wrapped up in a tiny four-letter box._

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"Stop being **stupid**, Naruto!" Kiba shouted angrily. "That's retarded. Only someone as much of a loser as **you** are could come up with that! Clearly, it's a scroll with a killer Ninjutsu written on it that only we get to know!"

"**You're** the one being stupid, Kiba!" Naruto shot back at him. "It's got to be some sort of Genjutsu. Some enemy sent it here, trying to make us open it so it can knock us out and take us prisoner where they'll torture us until we spill Konoha's darkest secrets to them without even knowing! They'll invade our minds!"

Kiba looked at him and scoffed. "You had to much coffee this time, Naruto. You've finally gone off the deep end. And I bet after they 'invade our minds,' the aliens are going to come and abduct us and do sexual things to us to figure out how our species work?"

"I didn't even **think** about that, Kiba! You're right! Which means we** really** need to not open that box!"

"Dobe…" the brunette muttered under his breath, looking down at the long, thin box in his hands. He read the note attached to it for about the millionth time. _"Great, powerful knowledge lies in this box, should you open it. Be sure you are capable of understanding it fully..."_ It was addressed to him and Naruto.

_Why did it have to be me and __**Naruto**__? Why couldn't it at least be someone who was powerful, like Neji? Or someone hot, like Ino? God, it should've been Ino. I'd love to have a secret with her. Or two._ Kiba snickered.

Why me? Out of all the possible shinobi in Konoha, why was **I** the one who was targeted for the enemy's evil plans? And the aliens! The aliens will be after me, too! Who **cares** about Kiba? What about **me**? I had plans for myself! I was going to become the greatest Hokage the world had ever seen! But… I guess someone like me could never become Hokage…

Feeling down via his new thought, Naruto sighed and started walking away, thinking about all the things he had wanted to do. I was going to ask Hinata out. Maybe, one day, marry her, too. Maybe I'd marry someone else. And I was going to be the most powerful shinobi ever. And I still have to get Sasuke-teme back. What's Sakura going to do? And Kakashi-sensei? And Hinata-chan?

_The hell is the dobe doing now…?_ Kiba though, following after him. _He's not seriously thinking he's going to die, is he? God, what a moron. But I can't very well open this without him if it was to the __**both**__ of us…_ "Oi, Baka!"

The blonde turned around. "What is it…?"

"C'mere already. There's no chakra in the box, so there can't be a Genjutsu on it. And I'm not going to open the damn box without you."

"But-"

"Just come here, already."

Naruto sighs but turns around, walking back over to the brunette.

"Chill out," Kiba tells him. Slipping his finger under the black satin ribbon that held the box down and pulling it off, he looked over at the blonde. Naruto nodded, and Kiba flipped off the top of the box.

The two gaped down at the open box. "What the hell…?" they murmured at the same time.

There sat two red roses, one addressed to Kiba, one addressed to Naruto. They looked from the roses in the box, to each other, and back down to the roses.

"Great, powerful knowledge lies in this box, should you open it…" Naruto muttered to himself. Then he looked at Kiba.

Kiba looked back at him. "Be sure you are capable of understanding it fully…" he finished.

The two looked at each other for a long time. As they stared into the eyes of the other, they started to understand. They're heart rate quickened considerably.

"I-I think I understand what it m-means…" Naruto whispered.

"S-so do I…" Kiba replied, leaning forward slowly.

Naruto leaned forward, too. When their lips met, it was like something connected inside of them. Like a missing piece suddenly fell into place.

The roses fell from their hands, and they never read the backs of the tags. "From Hinata," on the back of Naruto's, and "From Ino," on the back of Kiba's. And on the inside of the box, a note to the both of them that read: "Love is just an abbreviation for everything you ever wanted to say about that special person that means something to you, all wrapped up in a tiny four-letter box."

From behind a tree, Hinata frowns sadly.

Ino fumed. "Being gay was _**NOT**_ what we meant!"


	9. SasuHina Onsided: Hurt

**Heyyy!! Sorry it took a while (three whole days, omg,) to get this up. I had a bit of a lack of inspiration on day one, and a bit of a complication halfway through day two that kept me from uploading it.**

**This chapter is considerably longer than all the others. I think it's because, a.) there was a lot to write, and b.) because I had to show that it was a good portion of time that was passing; if I was going to have Sasuke fall in love, it wasn't going to be just some passing fancy. I wanted to keep him more in character than I usually do, so I had to make him spend a lot of time before he felt like that. And then I had to have somebody point it out. I don't even think I did all that good of a job keeping him in character. But it's better than my normal, soooo...**

**Lemme know.(:**

**This one is deticated to Ino-Gaara, who gave me the idea for the story. I'd like to apologize for straying from her plan a little, butttt... the heart of her idea is still there.(:**

**Disclaimer: Hmmm... it seems as if we have a misunderstanding, here. See, I don't own Naruto. I just twist Misashi-san's little world to my bidding. xD**

Next time on **Couples 'n' Quotes**: "Love has no end, as the stars have no number and the sea no rest." -_KibaTen_

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**Sasuke X Hinata One Sided **Story Nine: Hurt

_Love is when hurting her will hurt you more._

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"No."

That was the raven-haired boy's only word on the matter.

"Sasuke," the blonde before him growls.

"No. I won't do it. I don't need anyone to watch over me. I'm not four, Obaa."

"Sasuke, we cannot have you roaming about the village without someone to keep an eye on you. You will have an escort."

"No. At least not some Hyuuga brat."

"We're not going to put Naruto with you, and Ino and Sakura would kill you if it was them. Everyone else is on a mission. You are going to have to deal with _Hinata_. And if you call her that again, I might just end up killing you myself. Hyuuga Hinata is a fine shinobi who is more responsible and hard working then you will ever be. And she's a Jounin. So, I expect you to respect her as such. Where she comes from does not decide who she is."

The boy scowled, muttering darkly to himself about "Hyuuga brat" and "annoying."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Good. Then you will be escorted to your home by-"

"Don't tell me it's-"

"Hinata?" The bluette looks at the two. "Is there a problem with that, Sasuke?" she asks, her voice masking the hurt completely.

He turns to look at her. "No," he says lividly. "Not at all."

"Good." She smirks at him. "Then we should be going, Sasuke-_kun_."

He sits there in a pool of aggravation for a moment, but stands up and follows her out of the building nevertheless. He clenched his teeth as they walked in silence.

Hinata, unhappy at his unhappiness of her being his guard, stays silent as well. _What is it about Sasuke that makes him think he can treat everyone any way he wants to?_ She thought angrily. _He's no better than any of us. So why does he act like it?_

Leading Sasuke to his new apartment, Hinata took a seat on a couch. "You can settle in however you like," she says quietly, not turning to him.

"You're not staying here, too, are you?" Sasuke asks hesitantly.

"Yes, I am. Hokage's orders."

He frowns, walking away. "This is stupid," he mutters to himself. "Why'd it have to be her?"

"This is stupid. He doesn't want me here," Hinata mutters to herself almost silently. "Tsunade made a mistake. Maybe Naruto should do this…"

oOoOo-SasuHina-oOoOo

The two didn't talk to each other hardly for a week. They spent all their time together, but it was almost all in silence. Most of their conversations consisted of, "Dinner's ready," and "Okay." Nothing more. Sometimes less.

If they said anything to each other that didn't have to do with mealtime, it was small. "The weather is nice today," Hinata would say.

"Yeah."

"You should spend some time outside."

"Maybe later." And then they'd slowly sink back into the suffocating silence. It was frustrating to Hinata. She wasn't a woman of many words herself, but she needed to talk to _somebody_ from time to time.

Sasuke grew tired of it, too, after a few days. At first, the silence was golden; he was perfectly content to spend the rest of forever not talking to the bluette. But as time passed, he realized just how long forever was. A very, very, _very_ long time. Who knew how long he'd be stuck with her, unable to speak with anyone else. _If I don't talk to someone, to _her_, soon, I might forget how to do it,_ he though with a groan.

It'd been almost two weeks since he'd been dragged back to Konoha. How many times had he said more than three words at a time since then?

_Once._ _She asked what I wanted for lunch and I said, "I'd like a sandwich."_

He sighed. "Hinata?"

The blue-haired girl jumped. "Y-yeah…?" She turns to him.

"When do I get to start training again?" he asks, saying the first thing that comes to his head.

"When Tsunade deems you're not going to go on a murderous rampage throughout the town. A.k.a., about the same time you get to live on your own." She smiles at him, just a slight upturning in the corners of her mouth, before turning away, thinking he would not want to talk anymore.

"What about you?"

She looks back at him curiously. "What about me?"

"When do you get to train? Isn't your team going to need you eventually? I mean, you haven't gotten to see them in weeks."

She was shocked. "W-well… Tsunade told them about me looking over you. I get to go back the same time you do."

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"What do you mean?" _Is he asking if I don't want to be here...?_

"I just meant if you missed them," Sasuke clarifies.

"Oh." Hinata sighs. "Yeah, I miss them. But I think they'll do fine without me for a while. You need me more at the time being."

The conversation died then, as Sasuke had nothing to say to that.

But that was not the last between them. Over the next week, they went from complete silence to talking almost non-stop. One day they were uttering only simple small talk, and the next, they were giving each other practically their life stories. They asked questions, (Favorites, likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.,) and gave answers. They were like the best of friends.

But then the worst happened. Tsunade came to the apartment. "Sasuke, I've got good news. You're free to go. No more of this "house arrest" crap. And you can start training with team Seven immediately. Hinata, you can go back to your normal training with your team, and can move back into your apartment." The blonde grinned, as if she had just given the greatest present ever.

Hinata was excited. She could go back to her team now. She could go spend time with her blonde boyfriend again. And she had her own home again. _Not that I don't like being around Sasuke… in fact, I'm going to miss it a bit,_ she thought. _Besides, just because we don't have to live together doesn't mean I can't be around him anymore. I can still see him._

Sasuke, on the other hand, was very down about this news. _Great, Sasuke. Nicely done. You've successfully opened up to someone. Only thing is that now you won't get to see her anymore._ He frowned sat down on the side of his bed, his hands massaging his temples. _You knew that would happen, you stupid boy._

"Something wrong, Sasuke?"

He turned to look at Hinata, frown still on his face. "Yeah… no. I'm great." He forces a smile.

"You sure…? You seem a bit off," she says, taking a seat beside him.

"I said I'm fine, Hinata." He stands and walks away.

_What's wrong with him…? _She thinks, frown a mixture of confusion, anger, and sympathy. _He's getting defensive again. I thought we were past all that._ Getting up from her seat on his bed, she follows him into the hall. "Sasuke, talk to me," she says. "I'm your friend. You can tell me. What's wrong?"

He turns back to her, his walls up again. He masked his sorrow with hatred; it showed in his eyes. "Nothing is wrong with me. And you're not my friend. You're not _anything_, Hinata. Why don't you just hurry up and go? You act like I want you to be here."

Hinata forces back a gasp, her eyes widening in shock. "W-wh-what…?"

"Just go already, Hinata. I don't want you around me. I don't want you in my house. So just leave."

The girl was helpless. "W-what's g-g-gotten in-into you…? I-I t-thought w-we were-"

"You thought we were what, Hinata? Friends? I already told you. You're not my friend. So get out of my house." His eyes were cold, but she had no way of knowing he hated every word coming out of his mouth.

The bluette turns, heading to her room. She grabs her bags and walks out the door without a word on the matter. She refused to cry about it. _Sasuke is just a jerk. No wonder Ino-san hates him,_ she told herself. _I know exactly how she felt._

In his apartment, Sasuke looks out to the fading sun in the West. _It's almost dark out…_ He sighed, kicking the closest thing to him. _She's never going to forgive you for that, you know…_

oOoOo-SasuHina-oOoOo

Sasuke's eyes darted open. He turned to the phone ringing obnoxiously on his bedside table. Groaning, he picks it up. "Hello…?"

"Uchiha Sasuke? It's the Konoha Hospital."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes… what is it?"

"Hyuuga Hinata is in the Intensive Care unit."

He suddenly felt very awake. "What?"

"She was in a hit-and-run car accident while walking home. Someone saw and gave us a call; you were the only person we could contact. We need you to fill out some-" Sasuke heard nothing more, though. He was out the door. Half way down the block. Rushing through the hospital doors. Running up the stairs to the IC unit.

He looked around for a while, searching for her in one of the glass rooms, searching for her face. When he finally found her, he hurried into her room. "Hinata…" he whispered to himself.

A doctor came into the room. "Are you Uchiha Sasuke?"

He merely nods at him, looking away from the bluette for only a moment.

"She's not looking too good," the doctor says, coming around to the other side of the bed. "She's got three broken ribs, a broken leg, and quite the blow to her head. Her heart rate is low, as is her blood pressure. She's not breathing in what we'd call 'comfortable parameters,' either."

"Is she going to be alright…?" Sasuke braces himself for the worst as he looked down at her sleeping figure.

"She'll make it through, but it'll be a while before she can function normally again. She's going to have to stay in IC for a week or so before we move her downstairs. I can't tell you how long after that she'll have to stay there, or how long she's going to be out of her kunoichi duties."

_Hinata-chan… this is entirely my fault. If I hadn't made you leave so late… I should've let you stay until morning… _He cursed himself in his head, all the while worrying about the girl in front of him.

"Are you her… companion?"

Sasuke looked up. "No… but," he turns back to her. "She's my friend."

"Does she have one? We tried contacting her listed family, but they wanted nothing to do with her or wouldn't pick up the phone, and we need someone to-"

"Yeah. Look for Uzumaki Naruto," he says, slightly jealous.

The doctor turns, confused, to his charts. "Uzumaki Naruto – ah! Right. If you'll excuse me," the doctor bows his head and walks out of the door, heading towards a phone.

The raven-haired boy turns back to Hinata. "I shouldn't have hurt you like this, Hinata… I shouldn't have said all those things to you. I shouldn't have forced you out of my house and made you walk in the dark. I shouldn't have done it." He lowers his head to rest on her bed shamefully.

"Y-y-you-you're r-r-right…"

His head snaps up. "Hinata?"

Her eyes remain closed, but the corners of her mouth lift upward. "Sa-Sasuke…" she whispers hoarsely. "Y-y-you're r-ri-right. Y-you sh-shouldn't have s-s-sa-said t-those t-th-things…"

"I'm sorry you have to hurt, Hinata. You shouldn't have to. I should've-"

"E-enough, S-Sa-Sasuke… y-you're f-f-forgiven." She coughs a lot after that, and Sasuke thought he saw a bit of blood in her mouth.

_It kills me to see her like this… it doesn't matter if she's going to get better… it's my fault._

"Sasuke," a male voice calls from the doorway. He looks up to see Naruto staring at the girl in the bed, remorseful tears in his eyes.

"Naruto," he responds. He looks at Hinata, then back to the blonde. "I-I… I'll give you two some time," he says, standing up.

"A-and Sas-Sasuke…?"

He turns, curious.

"T-thank y-you."

"For what?"

"F-for b-b-being m-my f-fri-friend."

He nodded, the slightest smile on his face. "You, too." He walked out of the room, unable to look at her like she was any longer. Unable to watch her try to be strong. _She's trying to comfort me. Trying to mask her pain. I think that's the worst part. I can't watch her like that anymore. It hurts too much._

The doctor looks at him leaving. "Uchiha-san…?"

The boy looks at him.

"Come here, son." He waves Sasuke over.

"What is it?" he asks, once by the man's side.

"Do you have feelings for that girl in that room over there?"

Sasuke was shocked by the question. "What?"

"Do you love her?"

"I… care about her, I suppose. But…"

"Love is when hurting her hurts you more. Do you love her?"

He was silent for a moment. Calculating. Trying to understand. "By that definition…" he trails off for a moment. "Yes."

He smiles. "Then I suppose the best cure for the pain _you're_ feeling is to help with the pain _she's_ feeling."

He understood _that_ one. "Thank you," he says.

"Of course," the doctor nods to him with a sincere smile.

Sasuke left, feeling slightly better, less confused. He visited Hinata daily, with or without Naruto. He helped her through anything he could.

Simply because he loved her.

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**Hehe. There you go. The longest ever chapter of this collection;**

**Review it? Pleaseeeeee...?**


	10. ShikaIno: Sleep Forever

**Welll... I know. I'm really bad at sticking to the pairing I say I'm going to write, and even worse at updating "really soon!" But hey, I'm working on it. Dx**

**I actually had the first... three paragraphs in my social studies notebook for the past four weeks, but I never got around to actually typing them up until today. And I must say that I'm quite proud of the way this turned out.**

**This is freshly pulled out of my ass, no revision or editing made, so, if you will, please excuse any bad grammar, lack of punctuation, or mispelled words you may find.**

**No, I take that back. Tell me about them in a review(:**

**WARNINGS: Bad examples && a suicide attempt && lots of language in first third of story.**

**DISCLAIMER: This is purely fan made from the romantic mind of a thirteen year old girl with a morbid sense of humor living in America. How in the hell does that sound like it's written by Misashi Kishimotosan? xD**

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Shikamaru X Ino** Story Ten: Sleeping Forever

_If the only place I could see you was in my dreams, I'd sleep forever.

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"I hate you!"

I watched as the blonde girl grabbed a glass from the shelf and threw it onto the floor. It shattered into a million glittering pieces on my new hardwood floor. "The hell?" I fumed, glaring at her.

"I hate you and all your fucking lazy-ass habits!" she shrieked, grabbing another glass and hurling it again, this time towards me. I ducked, missing it by only a few hairs as it crashed into the wall behind me.

"What the hell is your problem, Ino?"

This was a day in the life of me, Shikamaru Nara, multi-millionaire and owner or Nara Incorporated. It was something of a normality to see my girlfriend, Yamanaka Ino (a college student in dance and music who was still living with her parents at age twenty-four) and I fighting. But it'd never been _this_ bad.

"Why is it that all you ever do is talk on that _damn_ phone or play golf with your _fucking_ business men or work on your _shitty_ business plans, huh? You act like your company is going to fall through any day now! You don't need to spend so much _fucking_ time on it all! What about me, huh? What about your _girlfriend_?" She said it like a cussword. As if she was being a burden to me. "Am I supposed to just _wait around_ for you to make time for me? I shouldn't have to get a fucking appointment just to see you!" Another glass whizzed by my ear.

"How about you, Ino? Acting like _I'm_ the bad guy, when all I ever get from you is, 'I don't want to do that,' when I try to take you out to dinner? Or, 'I'm studying, can I get back to you?' or, 'I'm having a dance recital! Wanna come?' As if I'm actually interested in your shitty dancing recitals. No one cares, Ino! No one gives a fuck about your stupid dancing!"

"No one gives a fuck about your fucking company, either, Nara!" I could see that I'd punched a hole through her pride, though. She might've still be fighting, but she was wounded. She hurled another glass at me, and, as I was dodging it, ran past me through the archway in my kitchen. She knocked over the vase on my coffee table, kicked over the leather chair, and slammed the door behind her, not bothering to look back at me as she left.

_Bitch…_ I thought. _I could sue._ I looked around at the mess she's made of my apartment.

_Just watch. She'll be back in a week, just dying for me to forgive her._

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Time passed. I heard nothing from her in over a month and a half. I was starting to get worried. Where was she? What was she doing? Was she okay? Was she still angry with me? Would she forgive me anytime soon? When would I see her again?

I started calling her, but she'd never pick up. I lost count of how many messages I'd left on her answering machine, asking her to call back, and saying I was sorry. Within a few days, I'd filled it up.

Three weeks later, I called again, just to see if she'd cleared out the messages. She had. And she'd changed her voice message. Instead of the simple, cheery, "Hi, it's Ino. I'm not here right now, but gimme some info and I'll get back to you!" it was a new, unfamiliar, and quite unwanted new one: "Hi, you've reached Ino and Kiba. Leave a message and one of us will get back to you."

It wasn't her voice.

Jealousy was overflowing inside of me. I stopped by her house, asking to see her, when her parents begrudgingly told me that she'd moved in with her boyfriend and that she hadn't been living with them for the past two months. I was about to ask how she was doing or if I could talk to her again sometime, but they shut the door in my face. Apparently, she'd told them about the dancing.

I'd never known I could feel that lonely. I stopped working on business plans - strategies to get more money didn't matter anymore. Had they ever? I didn't know. They'd lost their importance so long ago that I couldn't remember.

For days, I'd try taking a pain med to get rid of the aching numb in my chest, but it didn't go away. When one pill wasn't enough, I tried two. When two wasn't enough, I tried three. When three wasn't enough, I skipped to five.

But the pain didn't go away.

I added beers to my no-pain recipe. That helped a lot. I could go without thinking about anything but the picture of Ino and me at the college party we'd met each other at.

Finally, after some stretch of time, I became too numb to hear or see anything. Everything blanked out.

Ino came back, ringing on my doorbell in the middle of the night. She'd cried on my shoulder and told me she was sorry. She'd followed me to the couch and we'd made up like nothing happened. We woke up and everything was back to the way it should've been. She'd told me Kiba was a thing of her past and that she belonged with me.

But then she wasn't there one night. The apartment blacked out. My head was ringing. My sight was blurred. There was a single, tiny dot of white in the center of my vision, creeping towards me slowly. I turned away, clutching my eyes shut. The darkness returned. Ino returned.

She was dancing. Her body was flowing in perfect time to the soft music, the simple dress following along. I think she was singing. Her lips moved in time with the words. It was beautiful, hearing her angelic voice. Had she always been that perfect up on stage? I didn't know. I'd never paid attention.

My eyes were only on her as she flitted back and forth in time to the soothing melody. The spotlight followed her. She reached her hands into the audience, towards me. The spotlight followed me, now.

It was so bright. I gasped, my arms lurching forward to block it out. "Shikamaru…" a voice whispered airily. "Come…"

I shook my head, clenching my eyes shut. The light was so bright. "No…" I moaned. "No…"

"Shika-baby… come back…!" The voice sounded worried now. I couldn't recognize it, but I wanted to soothe it. I didn't know who the stranger was, but I wanted to calm them.

_Shika-baby?_ I paid more attention, straining to hear more.

"Shika… come back… please!" It was definitely female. She was sobbing.

Something wet landed on my face. She was _crying_.

"D-d-d-don-" I tried to talk, but it was barely more that breathing.

Something heavy landed on my shoulder. It shook. "Shikamaru…" the girl cried out again. "Please, come back…!"

"D-don't… c-c-cry…" I choked out.

The weight lifted immediately. "Shika?"

I tried to open my eyes, but couldn't. They were too heavy. I shifted my weight.

"Shika!!" the voice ejaculated.

I forced my eyes open to see Ino hovering above me, her blonde hair tickling my face. "I-I-Ino…?"

"Shh… It's okay. I'm here."

"You're lucky you made it, sonny. You had a nasty OD on painkillers." I turned my head to look at a doctor, probably twice my age. "This young lady has been worried sick about you."

"Why would you do that to yourself, Shika-baby?" Ino asked sadly.

I thought for a moment. I wanted to make everything all right with just saying one thing:

"Because if the only place I could see you was in my dreams, I'd sleep forever."

She cried some more, but there was a smile on her face as she hugged me closer.

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**Leave me a reveiw? C'mon, you all know that you think Shika is a rock-hard romantic!**

**And if not, tell me so. I'd like to get some feedback. Even flames are welcome at this point(:**


	11. ShikaNaru: Compatible

Hmm... so it's been a long time since I last updated. My conclusion? I really don't have time during the school year to fanfic... especially now that I'm going to highschool, and homework is going to be even worse.

**But, I have all summer. And I currently have two other plans for this collection that are ready to be written. And I have no life on weekdays that I don't have scheduled to be with my friends (which technically means I actually have a life this summer, but I'm supposed to be telling you that I'll update more, so that's what I'm going to do. Haha.)**

**Not a whole lot to say about that. So moving on: I really like this one. I think it's sweet, short, and gets to the point. Feel free to tell me otherwise, though, by leaving me a review.**

**Hell, feel free to leave me a review telling me you agree(:**

**Disclaimer: I don't know exactly how the school system is broken up in Japan, but I'm sure they have a point where schooling _ends_, and I'm sure as hell sure that Misashi Kishimoto-dono has _passed_ that point, so I'm pretty sure, that, since I have yet to finish my education, that I am not Misashi Kishimoto-dono and I have no legal claim over the characters within his show Naruto. This story is purely fan-made and I gain no profit from it whatsoever (aside from the moral comfort and warm fuzzy feeling from reading your loving reviews.)**

**Detication: To summer, who I hate with a burning passion because it rips me apart from my friends (especially this summer, as it's not going to put us back together again,) but nevertheless gets me to do my job as an author Naruto fanfictions. So thank you, summer.****

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Shikamaru X Naruto

Story Eleven: Compatible

_When we find someone who's weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into a mutally satisfying weirdness – and we call it love – true love._

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The men's locker room of Konoha High was full of pent up energy. The boys were shouting words of encouragement and praise over the bass line of the music blasting from the speakers. They were psyched for the football game they were going to play (and win, they were sure) in less than fifteen minutes.

The blonde captain stepped forward, a cheeky grin on his face. "Guys, this is it! We're gonna beat Suna's ass into the ground. Their team doesn't stand a chance. This is _our_ turf, _our _stadium, _our_ championship, and they can't do shit about it. Those are _our_ friends, _our_ family, and _our_ fans out there. And, of course, _our_ cheerleaders, which are way better than _their_ cheerleaders."

The team howled with approval and amusement in a great uproar of noise, slapping each other on the back and laughing to themselves. They knew they were going to win. It was their last game. For the first time in over a decade, everyone on the varsity football team was a senior. So, this being the last game of the last season they'd be spending at school (because, though it's a shame to think about, most of the players were _not_ planning on going to college,) this could very well be the last game they play. And they were _not_ going to let Suna win their last game. They knew _were_ going to win.

And so did Naruto. Naruto _knew_ he was going to win. He knew it. Shikamaru had said so. What more did he need?

Of course, Shikamaru had said it in more complicated verse than just, "you're going to win," because if he was going to explain why, which he knew the blonde would ask him, he had might as well do it thoroughly and save himself the effort later.

"You have a higher probablility of winning. If there'd only been, say, four teams in the leauge, the data would be less conclusive, but the Law of Large Numbers means that…"

And that was where Shikamaru had lost him.

But he eventually came back to the point of the matter, and that was that Naruto and his team were going to win.

And, of course, Shikamaru was right. When was he ever _wrong_? The Konoha High football team won their game by three touchdowns.

And the best part of the night was _easily_ watching the looks of the people on Suna's team when they saw the varsity football captain walk up to his boyfriend and kiss him.

Gaara no Sabaku was among the most surprised. He and Naruto had been friends as kids, but he'd never considered the fact that Naruto would be gay (not that he had anything against it, really, though it did make him wonder what else his friend had hidden from him.)

And what was more – why Shikamaru? They were probably as different as two people could be (aside from the fact that they were both men, which was about the only similarity between the two.) Naruto was Brawn and no Brain. Captain of varsity football (and various other varsity sports teams) and doing only good enough in school to graduate and be eligible for sports. Shikamaru didn't do_ anything_ after school (though, the chess club and the mathletes had tried recruiting him up until his senior year when they finally realized he wasn't going to join,) and had a 4.0 GPA without even trying (because you know he wouldn't have tried for it.)

"Opposites attract," Shikamaru would say simply when asked why he would choose Naruto.

Which, of course, meant that, Naruto being his opposite, would end up giving the more complicated response, (though all it did was make him sound about as dumb as he really is,) "When we find someone who's weirdness is compatible with our own, we join up with them and fall into a mutually satisfying weirdness – and we call it love – true love."

Which, incase you were wondering, got a few jokes about "mutually satisfying."

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**So, leave me a comment? :D**


	12. ShikaTema: Play It Again

**So, this is story twelve of the fifty-oneshot collection.**

**The story is kind of sad, but I think the writing it pretty damn good. xD**

**Read it? Review it? Favorite it? Alert it?**

**For future reference, I'm going to start changing the name of the actual STORY so that it's the newest update. So, for example, until I get the next story up, this will be called, "Play It Again - Collection!" or something along those lines. I just think that Couples 'n' Quotes is a shitty title. xDD**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.**

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Shikamaru X Temari** Story Twelve: Play It Again

_A memory of love is like a favorite song: no matter how many times it plays again, you never get tired of it.

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Temari sat in her room, feeling more alone than ever as she wrapped their blanket around her, keeping to his half because it still smelled like him. Tears were still working their way down her face, even a few hours later. The day had just been too impossible to believe; too horribly impossible.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing when the policeman told her of he lover's death. Shikamaru couldn't possible be _dead_. He was tewnty-eight. How could he have _died_?

But then she saw his body and the cold realization started to set in. Anyone alive with their arms and legs bent and crushed by the car doors like his were would've been screaming in agony. But the small, closed-off street was coldly silent as Temari stood there in shock.

More tears spilled from her eyes at the recollection of the memory, and she had to fight off a strong urge to vomit. She couldn't think about it anymore. She would go insane.

She reached for more blanket, pulling it more closely to her. The smell of him was still strong as ever, lingering with her. She didn't know if it was helping her or it it was just making everything worse. But she didn't know if she really cared. She just wanted Shikamaru back.

She laid her head on his pillow and remembered the first night they slept in that bed – how she had had just the worst day ever, as her younger brother Gaara had just been pronounced missing. She just laid on his shoulder and gried all night, his hands rubbing against the skin of her back as he sang her to sleep. His voice was smoothe and clear in her memory, without gaps, as she knew every word to the song. He had been singing _their_ song.

She started to sing it shakily between her sobs. It brought back the memory of their first kiss, when they decided it was their song. They had danced along on the floor of a tiny bar, it playing softly in the background. She remembered how his soft lips felt, pressed against her own for the first time ever, and how his hands touched her hips to pull her closer.

She could see it all in her mind's eye, but soon the memory ended, and once again, Shikamaru was gone.

She clenched her eyes shut and searched for another memory.

The day her proposed to her appeared before her eyes. She went through the morning moment by moment: he picked her up (on-time, for once) and took her to a nice reataunt for breakfast before they headed to the park to fly kites and just spend time together, picnic basket ready for when they got hungry. She could see every fleck of grey-green in his dark eyes as they lit up, because she had just opened the basket and saw the felt box lying on top of their food. She still remembered the way the ring glinted as the runrays bounced off of it, faint colors floating around it like a glow. She wrapped her arms around him hastily, and he kissed her.

She went through the rest of the memory, trying her hardest to remember everything. A lot of it consisted of her looking from the 6-karat diamond ring to the 12-karat jewels of her lover's eyes.

But as she got to the part where he kissed her goodnight, she couldn't face the goodbye. As she saw his lips seal over hers, she realized if she heard him say goodbye, it might kill her.

So the goodbye never came. They stayed, locked in their embrace, and the memory faded at that.

But it's absence left another hole.

So she went to their wedding day, how everything had been perfect for her, especially at that last moment of complete happiness. And every time the kiss neared its end, it started over at the beginning. She could hear the music, smell every scent, and felt Shikamaru's arms around him.

She knew this memory would not leave her.

So she fell asleep, reliving that kiss, with their song playing in her ears, her iPod set ti repeat.


	13. TenIno: Heart and Mind

**Soooo this has actually been on my laptom for a very long time. Like, three weeks. But I'd been forgetting to edit it for a while, as well. So here is the thirteenth installment in this collection of oneshots.**

**It's not personally my favorite. But I'm really pretty proud of the way that the story came out, seeing as how it was a really... fruitless quote. Haha. Not that the quote doesn't have a lot of value. It's more a, "Well what the hell am I going to write about?" xD**

**Again; I like it.**

**However, should you feel the need to express some homophobic opinion about lesbians being unholy or whatever... save it. Love is just love. And, if you don't like it, wait for the next straight couple. Homophobia is ridiculous, and I simply will not stand for it.**

**Warnings: Homosexuality.**

**Disclaimer: I am telling you, for the thirteenth time (in this story alone) that I do not own Naruto. Take a hint? (:**

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**Tenten X Ino**

Story Thirteen: Heart and Mind

_If you open your heart, love opens your mind._

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Everyone knew that Ino was lesbian. Sure, almost all girls went through that stage where they thought if they kissed another girl that guys would notice them (and it usually worked.) But most of them got out of that stage after a few months. When Ino didn't stop, people asked why. They got the honest answer.

On the other hand, you had Tenten, who everyone knew was about as straight as could be. Dated Rock Lee for a few months, then went her for her other teammate; she and Neji had been dating for years.

It didn't seem to matter to Ino that Tenten was never going to feel the same way for her. She loved her anyway.

~#~

"Ino," Tenten said, fidgeting with her hands. "I don't really know what you want me to say…"

The blonde shrugged. "So don't say anything at all. I don't mind."

"But I do. And not just about not saying something."

Ino frowned slightly. "I didn't mean to make you awkward, Tenten. I just thought it'd be easier if I just told you."

Tenten also frowned. _Why me? Why her?_ Ever since she'd been fourteen, her and Ino had been close friends, along with Sakura and Hinata. She didn't want to lose her friend, but there was just no way in hell she would ever feel that way. Tenten just didn't have it in her. "I know, Ino… but…"

Ino raised her manicured hands with a small smile. "Don't worry about me. I'm still just your best friend. I promise I won't try anything. But I think it's also important that you know how I feel."

And with that, she walked off.

Tenten sighed, her shoulders drooping. "Damn it all…" she murmurs. What in the world was she going to do?

The night at the bar last month flashed back to her mind. Everyone had been celebrating Kiba's birthday, and everyone got a little drunk. So the girls got the idea that they'd mess around with each other. A kiss here, running a hand through the hair there. Just to give the boys a rise. You know, for the fun of it.

Ino had kissed her. She couldn't help but remember that very clearly, even though the rest of the night was a complete blur. And somehow, she got a tingly feeling in her stomach, though she couldn't quite tell if it was a good or bad tingle. She didn't know which one she wanted it to be, either.

~#~

Ino walked to the park after she left Tenten standing there. The nighttime air was crisp, chilled, and caused goosebumps on her exposed arms. She frowned as she noted that small tinge of purple creeping into her skin, and tried to remedy the situation by rubbing her arms with her hands.

She had known that Tenten wouldn't rejoice with the news, wouldn't leap into her arms and kiss her delightedly. But something about the awkwardness of her reaction left the blonde kunoichi feeling lonely and jaded. It had never been her intention to make the other girl feel bad. But the feelings inside her refused to be hidden inside her heart.

Ino was never the quiet type. What did she have to lose from telling the truth? Tenten wasn't a bad person: she wasn't the type of homophobic scum bag that would have tried to completely maim Ino for liking her. But the way that Tenten looked at her when she told her of her feelings… Ino had never seen such judgement and scrutiny in her friends eyes, in her tone.

The blonde rested her head against the bark of a tree, closing her eyes shut tight. She hoped with her entire being it wouldn't be Sasuke all over again. Sasuke had been her reason for turning lesbian in the first place. Sure, it had been a gradual thing, in which her various flings with men during the bisexual stage of the transition had furthered the progression, but… he'd been the one to get the ball rolling. By the time Kiba turned her away, she'd been completely over men.

Sometimes she wondered why she had fallen for Tenten. Hinata was prettier to most. Sakura had been her friend for a much longer time, and she knew her more (though she thought perhaps that's why she _hadn't_ gone for the rosette.) And there were plenty of other women in town who she knew actually liked girls. But everytime she looked in Tenten's honey-flecked eyes, she saw who she wanted to be. Wasn't that what her father always told her love would be like?

~#~

They didn't see each other for at least a week. Tenten wouldn't exactly say that she was _avoiding_ the blonde. But she sure as hell didn't hunt her down to talk to her, either.

But then she saw Ino catch sight of her, and knew without thinking that there would be no running away. Her friend deserved more than that from her.

The blonde smiled softly, walking over patiently. She was in no hurry. It was almost as if Ino knew the brunette could use a few more seconds of preparation. "Tenten."

"Ino." Tenten managed a smile that wasn't completely fake.

"So… I know I said I wouldn't try anything, but…" she held her hands in the air for a moment before pulling them behind her back. "But I have to tell this to you:"

Tenten braced herself for anything. Ino had always been unpredictable.

"Ten, I love you. And I think you could love me, too, if you let yourself."

She had _not_ been ready for that. "Ino… I'm with Neji. You know that. And I just… I don't like girls like that."

The blonde smiled. "I'm not asking you to like girls. I'm asking you to like me. If you would open your heart… if you would _let _yourself love me… love would make it seem less impossible to you."

She shook her head. "No, it wouldn't, Ino."

"You're being closed-minded. I know there are aspects I have which you like. If I didn't have agreeable personality traits, we wouldn't be friends."

"But that's exactly it, Ino. We're friends. But nothing else. I just can't be in love with you!"

"But aren't you already? I'll say it again: If you'd open your heart, love would open your mind."

Tenten stopped. She looked at Ino. She kept just seeing her friend. But she saw the light in her friend's beautiful eyes, the creamy color of her skin, the reddened tone of her full lips. The tingle came back. Her heart told her it was ready to be opened. Her mind refused the thought. It was impossible.

Or was it?

Her mind said it was. Her heart said it wasn't. But Tenten didn't have a clue.


End file.
